The First Lady of the United States was aboard the aircraft today on her way to Philadelphia to address a hospital conference on neonatal abstinence syndrome. But minutes into the morning flight, the aircraft developed a "mechanical" issue.
Secret Service agents leapt from their seats 10 minutes into the morning flight and ran to the front of the aircraft.
Reporters on board said they were told a "mechanical" issue caused the scare. No one was hurt but the first lady didn't reach her destination. A press pool reporter on board said journalists "could see a thin haze of smoke and smell something burning. The smell quickly became stronger." A crew member told the reporter that a "malfunctioning comms unit" was to blame.
Melania's flight returned to Joint Base Andrews and landed safely at 9:05 a.m.
The plane was a C-32, the military's version of the Boeing 757-200. It's the same aircraft that took the first lady to Africa this month and is routinely used as "Air Force Two" when Vice President Mike Pence travels outside Washington.
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